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Wednesday, December 11, 2013

News Flash! It's Raining!

We interrupt our normal broadcast with this edge-of-your-seat news from Israel: IT'S RAINING! It's not often that we Israelites have opportunity to break out our scarves, coats, boots, and umbrellas. In Israel, "freezing" is defined by anything below 60 degrees Fahrenheit (15*C) and as soon as the first storm hits the Mediterranean the country literally shuts down. The roads flood. Trees fall over. Last winter, there were reports of people floating down a main artery in rubber dinghies to bypass a blocked highway in the Tel Aviv area. Like many things, people love to comment on the weather. Israel mainly has two climates; seasonably hot and unseasonably hot. Occasionally we're blessed with some rain and cold though it usually only lasts for a day or a few. Rarely, we get snow below the Hermon and Golan Heights, and that is truly cause for mass celebration especially for school-aged children, who get a snow-cation because obviously the roads and transportation, schools, and everything else completely shut down when it snows here.I am elated. Cold. A bit damp. Somewhat worried about some dripping from my attic/roof but really REALLY happy!How nice to have a break from nuclear threat from Iran and terror in Gaza, bills that need paying, and, of course, cancer... because all anyone is talking about is the rain and the cold and it's wonderful! On the 8:00 am news, I heard about a fallen tree blocking a main road and wreaking terrible havoc on the morning commuters. All the headlines were weather related and there's already 15 centimeters of snow on Mt. Hermon in the north! The kids are delighted to be opening and closing their umbrellas and jumping from spot to spot to avoid the mud and puddles on the way to the car and I feel happy.I know that weather is no joke... G-d forbid anyone should experience anything disastrous, and I know that exists... but Israel's "winter" weather is benign and glorious and I'm enjoying the excitement that won't last for too long and the free car-wash and desperately needed water for the whole country.Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could just talk about the weather?